Ishi, the seven year old climate superhero

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The newest environmental superhero is a seven year old Himalayan girl named Ishi.

Ishi, who lives in a small Indian village called Kaaza in the remote ice desert region of the Himalayas, is the star of an award-winning short film from Delhi filmmaker Nitin Das.

The message of the film is as short and sweet as Ishi:

She uses the sun to light her house and light to cook her food.

She’s doing her part, even though she is only seven years old.

How old are you?

Nitin Das’ film, Superhero, won first place in this year’s ‘The Possible Futures Film Contest,’ an international contest for independent filmmakers sponsored by an Amazon indigenous peoples advocacy group - The Pachamama Alliance - and its FOUR YEARS. GO, an international campaign to shift humanity towards a more sustainable path.

Judged by an international panel of five media experts, the contest requires applicants to envision a more positive future and then to find a way to capture that vision. The instructions are simple: “Let your creativity flow; imagine what you desire for the world; make a film; make a difference.”

For Nitin, who quit his job at one of India’s largest magazines to run an independent film production house, this was a good fit. He wanted to create films that focus on solutions rather than problems. In his own words, he wanted to make “stories that create awareness not just about the present but also about the future that’s possible.”

Nitin’s entry won out of a total of 317 entries from 44 different countries. The first prize, announced on 25 July, is US$10,000 and a trip to the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador.